This data offers excellent insight into regional developmental patterns around the world–it is very much worth exploring. However I’m sharing this also for it’s mapping project potential; the data behind this map is available in the article and students can make their own maps with it.

I know that YOU know that China ended the One-Child Policy, but many incoming college freshman have a world view about population that is a generation behind on many of the current population trends. This video discusses most of the APHG population topics using China as the world’s most important population case study–that makes this video excellent to show in a regional or human geography course.

“For the last 12 months, the global media has been focused on a lot of bad news. But there were other things happening out there too: conservation successes, huge wins for global health, more peace and tolerance, less war and violence, rising living standards, some big clean energy milestones, and a quiet turning of the tide in the fight against plastic. Stories of human progress, that didn’t make it into the evening broadcasts, or onto your social media feeds.”

The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but far too often the news will give us an overly pessimistic viewpoint about the world (as mentioned in Hans Rosling’s Book, FACTFULNESS). Slow, incremental progress isn’t dramatic enough to make the headlines, and consequently we often miss the evidence that will demonstrate the ways in which the world is improving. This article wrapping up some positive news from 2018 then, is a welcome bit of news that might change how we perceive some aspects of world.

Nunavut is remote…far more remote than most of our students can imagine. They live over 1,000 miles from any city with half a million people. The entire territory is enormous, but sparsely populated with only 36,000 people. Try to image getting commercial goods to such a remote location. The Canadian government has invested heavily to subsidize systems to get food products and other necessities to Nunavut. Still, the transportation costs are so high, and the numbers are so few that economies of scale can’t help this situation.

I just finished Hans Rosling’s book, Factfulness. It was an absolutely delightful read (who wouldn’t want to imagine hearing Hans Rosling’s voice while relaxing on the beach?). So much of the populace have outdated paradigms about the world and too many have an overly pessimistic worldview that everything is getting worse. This is why FACTFULNESS is so needed day. This term is used to describe a fact-based, data-driven worldview that is not overly dramatic, or fear-based. In so many ways, the world has been consistently getting quantifiable better; this derived from an optimistic perspective, but a factful understanding of the world today. This book is his clarion call to understand the world as it actually is and is the culmination of his professional achievements. Now that he has passed away, it feels like a major part of his lasting legacy. If you’ve ever used his TED talks, Gapminder, the Ignorance Project, or Dollar Street resources, this is a must read.

“In the garment industry, stories about workers who barely eke out an existence on ‘starvation wages’ are legion: Factory workers in New Delhi often describe living in makeshift hovels ‘barely fit for animals.’ A young woman from Myanmar might wrestle with the decision to feed her children or send them to school. In Bangladesh, sewing-machine operators frequently toil for 100 hours or more a week, only to run out of money before the end of the month. Workers have demanded higher pay in all those countries, of course, sometimes precipitating violence between protesters and police. Companies in general, however, have preferred to sidestep the issue altogether. In fact, no multinational brand or retailer currently claims to pay its garment workers a wage they can subsist on.”

In some ways this isn’t the right question to be asking. While clothing brands don’t want the bad PR from low wages, like all businesses, they are incentivized to minimize their inputs and maximize their profits. If capitalistic logic were completely unrestrained, this situation would never change as long as their are low-skill workers.

Questions to Ponder: What institutions have the ability to change this situation and what are effective ways to bring about change? Where are textile industries located in the international division of labor? How do sweatshops impact the places where they locate in the international division of labor?

Inequality is a big, big subject. There’s racial inequality, gender inequality, and lots and lots of other kinds of inequality. This is Econ, so we’re going to talk about wealth inequality and income inequality. There’s no question that economic inequality is real. But there is disagreement as to whether income inequality is a problem, and what can or should be done about it.

“Obesity is a global problem, but more people are getting fatter in developing countries than anywhere else. If current trends continue, obese children will soon outnumber those who are undernourished. Nearly half of the world’s overweight and obese children under five years old, live in Asia. And in Africa, the number of overweight children under five has increased by nearly 50% since 2000. Hunger still blights many parts of the world. But the share of people who do not have enough to eat is in decline. Globally one in nine people in the world suffer from chronic undernourishment. One in ten are obese. If current trends continue, the share of obese children in the world will surpass the number of undernourished by 2022. Africa has the fastest-growing middle class in the world. A move from traditional foods to high-calorie fast food and a more sedentary lifestyle is driving the rise in obesity. Health systems in Africa, more focused on treating malnourishment and diseases like malaria and HIV, are ill equipped to deal with obesity-related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes. “